Fangio racer leads Goodwood sale

17 June 2013Written by ATG Reporter

What must be one of the most iconic racing cars ever to come up for sale will be offered by Bonhams at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on July 12.

Juan Manuel Fangio, the Argentine driver who
dominated the 1950s world of Formula One, winning the World
Drivers' Championship in 1951 and from 1954-1957 inclusive, drove
this 2½-litre Mercedes-Benz W196 to victory in the German and Swiss
Grand Prix of 1954.

The car is the same model raced by Stirling
Moss when he won his first British Grand Prix in 1955 - his first
ever Formula One Grand Prix victory.

Sir Stirling, who met up with current F1 ace
Lewis Hamilton to compare cars - the W196 to Hamilton's Silver
Arrow, in which he will compete for this year's British Grand Prix
title - said: "Winning the British Grand Prix meant a lot to me. I
won in a Mercedes-Benz W196 in 1955, just before the very last
corner. It really was a very special day.

"I remember it quite well; I'd caught up
with Fangio and overtaken him in traffic. As we went round the last
corner I put my foot flat on the floor and took the chequered flag.
I finished literally half a car length in front."

The estimate is available on request.

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